Australia? In my day pre-season was a long hard run up the dunes at Gullane. Don't know they're born these lily-livered pansies.

Up the dunes, Capstan Full Strength in hand and a flask of lukewarm tea when you reach the top.

That's an athlete's preparation.

Anyway, good luck to Seb as he rediscovers the world outside blogging about the fitba' - I really must get him to tell me what having a life is like.

And best of British/Scottish/Nation-ish of your choice to Bobby as he joins us in our lonely pursuit of the perfect blogpost borne from the most imperfect of sports.

Speaking of guest blogging: I've got a couple of new voices lined up as the season gets underway and I might be appearing elsewhere before too long. But I'm always happy to share the burden so if anyone does fancy putting together a few lines please get in touch. You can be as regular or irregular as you like and any football related topics are welcome. This is a vacancy ideally suited to anybody prepared to write for bugger all. Clearly you can't buy a pint of beer with my gratitude but it's all I can offer at the moment.